In each even-numbered year, the major political parties in Colorado (Democratic Party and Republican Party) hold their precinct caucuses in March. A precinct caucus is a neighborhood meeting conducted by the political parties, where affiliated voters may get involved in selecting delegates for their party’s County and State Assemblies. This is an important step in the democratic process, because the delegates will eventually elect county, state, and congressional candidates to appear on the party’s June 30 Primary Election ballot, and also approve a party platform for 2020. Precinct caucuses are open to the public and held throughout the state.

I thought there was a law change regarding caucuses and primary elections. What has changed?

In 2020, the presidential candidate will be voted on in a primary election. And while the caucus process has no bearing on Colorado’s preference for a presidential party nominee, the process helps determine the candidates who will be appear on the June primary ballot.

In addition, Unaffiliated voters can now vote in primary elections without changing their affiliation status. If you are an unaffiliated voter, you can either declare a ballot preference on your voter registration record or you will be sent ballots for all parties conducting a primary election. However, you can only vote and return one party’s ballot. If you vote and return multiple ballots, none of your votes will be counted.

In summary, caucus is a completely separate activity from both the presidential primary and June primary. However, voters need to be affiliated with the party to participate.

Who may participate in caucus and what are the deadlines?

To vote in a precinct caucus an elector must have been registered to vote at your current address and affiliated with the party no later than February 14, 2020.